Secretary | muke [c]

Seven

Michael was having what he could only describe as the worst night of his life. Sitting in Ashton's glamorous living room with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the Mindarie Marina wasn't all that bad; it was the moment he was pulled back from the breathtaking view to see his wife's hand on his knee. He hated how good Jane was at acting like they were a happy couple; how she managed to fake love in her eyes and happiness in her voice. It always made Michael wonder how many times she had done that to him and he fell for it.

"So, Michael?" Ashton's voice pulled the green eyed man from his thoughts as he tilted his head questioningly. "Have you not been listening?" The older man chuckled.

"He's probably exhausted from all the cases you drop on him, dear." Ella, Ashton's wife, joked. It made him sick to see the couple across from him, sitting so close together they could possibly morph into one single person. He was jealous of their relationship, and Michael knew it. "Anyways, Mike, we were talking about taking a weekend trip to Chittering or Margaret River, what do you think?"

"I think it'd be a great getaway." Jane spoke before her husband could. She knew he would turn it down.

"We'll have to see." The faux blond grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. "Lots of cases, am I right?"

Ashton and Michael both chuckled, Ella soon joining in with them as Jane forced herself to smile. Michael could feel her fingers digging into the skin of his knee as if to say he had given the wrong answer. He had to hold back his eye roll as he took another sip of the Pinot Noir Ashton had just opened. He was having the worst time, but at least he was getting alcohol out of it. Sitting there and hating every ticking second of it only made Michael think of Luke.

Luke, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. Sitting in his kitchen with Naomi with some wine was the only thing he needed in that moment. After a rather stressful afternoon of hunting for wedding dresses, Naomi's mother had returned to her hotel, claiming to be absolutely shattered. The two gladly returned to Luke's apartment, getting some wine on the way back as well as some cheese and crackers.

"I'm still counting on you to have a date to my wedding, Luke." Naomi gave him a narrowed look, knowing exactly what the blond was thinking as his lips twitched up ever so slightly.

"We'll see." He chuckled, his thoughts instantly drifting to Michael. He knew it'd never happen, but the thought of Michael in a tux and Luke in a beautiful dress next to him made him feel giddy inside. The thought of the two of them holding hands and Michael looking at Luke the same way Dean looked at Naomi made his smile widen slightly. "Maybe I'll have met someone by then."

"Or maybe you have already." The blonde mumbled as she looked down at her glass of wine, containing her laughter. Luke had never openly told Naomi about whatever it was he was having with Michael (friendship?), but she knew him well enough to see the way Luke's eyes always drifted back to Michael, no matter how full the room was. She never failed to see Michael's eyes do the same when the blond wasn't looking.

"Not now, please." Luke groaned as he covered his eyes with the back of his hand. "It's Friday, let's not talk about him."

Naomi was about to reply, but the buzzing of Luke's phone from the coffee table pulled their attention to the device. Luke sighed as he placed his glass on the kitchen counter, picking the phone up before plopping himself down on the couch. He had been expecting a message from Calum, something about how he'd need to crash at Luke's that night, but he was surprised to see the name 'Michael Clifford' flash on the screen.

From: Michael Clifford

What are you doing right now?

To: Michael Clifford

Nothing much, drinking some wine with Naomi.

From: Michael Clifford

Could you meet me at the train station in twenty minutes?

The sound of a gasp escaping Luke's lips made Naomi stand up, rushing to the blond's side. "What is it?" She questioned, trying to peek over at Luke's phone screen.

"Michael just asked if I could meet him in twenty minutes." The blond frowned, not wondering what Michael could want from him as he began to type out his response.

"What are you doing?!" Naomi exclaimed as he snatched the phone from Luke's hand. "Don't tell him you can't go!" She quickly typed in that he'd be there, smiling at the blond who sat there looking confused.

"I'm here with you." He said as if it were obvious. "I'm not ditching you for him." 

"Yes, you are." Naomi nodded hastily as she tugged Luke up from the couch. "Now let's get you dressed, you have a date."

Michael looked down at his phone, trying to contain his smile and hide it behind a frown. He knew no one else in the room was focused on him as they talked excitedly about previous vacations. The conversation consisted mostly of Ashton and Ella telling funny stories about their trips and Jane constantly telling Michael they should go here and there for their next vacation. It was almost as if she didn't know Michael would never spend money on another trip for them. All of them consisted of Jane sitting in the spa the entire day, or shopping, while Michael was left alone to do anything else. 

"I have to go." Michael cleared his throat as he stood up, looking at his phone once more.

"Is everything okay?" Ashton frowned, looking up at Michael with a worried expression. Michael felt bad about lying, but he just needed to get out of there.

"My, um, my mother's getting worse. I gotta get to the hospital." He hated using his mother as an excuse to get out of there, but he had to. He couldn't take another second in that house with Jane next to him.

"Do you need a ride? Anything?" Ashton quickly stood up, his eyes roaming around in search for his car keys, but Michael quickly shook his head.

"It's okay, I'll just take the car, yeah?" He looked over at Jane, who seemed unamused. "If you could take a taxi home, Jane, that would be great."

"We'll drive her." Ella nodded, smiling at him before smiling at his wife. "Just get to the hospital before anything happens. Let us know how everything's going." 

"I will." Michael quickly nodded, hesitantly placing a kiss on Jane's cheek before shaking Ashton's hand and giving Ella a friendly hug. "Thank you for tonight. I'll see you on Monday." 

He was out of that house in a heartbeat, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding once he realised he didn't have to fake happiness now. He would actually be happy being next to Luke. 

~~~

idk how bad this is but anyways 

this already has 2k reads wtf it's only the 7th chapter